Wilmington, NC News

Archive for March, 2009

A Child Abuse Prevention Fair, sponsored by the Pender County Health Department and Smart Start of Pender, will be held 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday at the health department, 803 S. Walker St., Burgaw.

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A few months back we told you about a Boiling Spring Lakes fire truck that went up in flames while responding to a fire at the St. James Plantation.

The fire department made an insurance claim, and now they have a brand new truck. However, sources we spoke with today said there is more to the insurance claim than meets the eye.

Our sources claim the fire department requested insurance money to cover equipment that was actually never lost in the blaze.

It all started this past October, when a Boiling Spring Lakes brush fire truck responded to a woods fire near St. James Plantation. The truck caught fire and was destroyed.

Five months and an insurance claim later, the fire department has a new truck, but not everyone is happy about it.

A concerned anonymous resident said, “The equipment that was on the truck ended up getting turned into the insurance company. There is paperwork to prove it, and the fire chief knew what he was doing when he did it.”

He said the Boiling Spring Lakes Fire Department requested insurance money to cover equipment that wasn’t lost in the blaze.

Chief Nelson Cobble couldn’t talk to us on camera today, but did say he had initially requested funds to replace two air packs that he thought were lost in the fire. He later realized they didn’t need the funds, so he called up the insurance company and sent the funds back.

Cobble claims both the police department and insurance company checked his claim, and said everything was legitimate.

Our source added it’s not just the air packs he’s worried about; he claims the new truck has features it simply does not need which cost thousands of dollars.

There has been no word from the insurance company in Pennsylvania, despite our calls to confirm this information.

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A few months back we told you about a Boiling Spring Lakes fire truck that went up in flames while responding to a fire at the St. James Plantation.

The fire department made an insurance claim, and now they have a brand new truck. However, sources we spoke with today said there is more to the insurance claim than meets the eye.

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The Carthage police chief entered the morning press conference prepared to discuss ‘limited facts’ about the Sunday’s nursing home shootings and Robert Stewart, the man authorities hold responsible for the carnage. Chief Chris McKenzie said, “He had one wife that he may have been separated from, but to the details as to whether or not she was there or was part of the motive, is yet to be determined.”

Chief McKenzie confirmed information reported earlier by eyewitness news; the estranged wife is an employee of Pinelake Health and Rehabilitation Center. But asked if she barricaded herself inside the center after he entered Sunday, to keep him from reaching her, the chief replied, “The lead investigators are conducting many, many interviews with eyewitnesses, and (regarding) the integrity of the case; it is not a good time for me to discuss those details.”

He entered the center after his officer fired one shot and subdued the suspected gunman. The chief called the scene inside, “Unimaginable. I don’t know what other words – horrific, everything that you can possibly imagine that is bad in this world. It’s horrible. This doesn’t happen, but it did.”

The Moore County prosecutor said Monday afternoon that detectives are still working to establish a motive for the shootings. The suspect, Robert Stewart, is scheduled to appear in court next week on eight counts of first-degree murder and a charge of felony assault of a law enforcement officer.

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We are learning a bit more Monday about the man who allegedly shot 10 people at nursing home in Carthage, North Carolina in Moore County, 60 miles southwest of Raleigh.

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Associated poll

If you saw a film crew hanging around Robert’s Grocery and other beach locations, you might have assumed it was “One Tree Hill.” Turns out though, the film, “Suit Yourself” was written and produced by locals.